


pancakes can't fix everything

by fictionalportal



Series: 30 Days of Pride [7]
Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-07
Updated: 2017-06-07
Packaged: 2018-11-10 21:48:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11135358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fictionalportal/pseuds/fictionalportal
Summary: Content warning: referenced physical abuseBased on part of a prompt from @therogueslayer on tumblr where Trini helps Kimberly escape from her nasty ex:“Kim is in an abusive relationship and Trini saves her, even though they've never met before."In which Kimberly wants to escape Angel Grove and Trini drives the getaway car.





	pancakes can't fix everything

Of course Trini knew who Kimberly Hart was. She was the head cheerleader, the queen bee, a straight-A student with a famously sharp tongue and really great hair. _Of_ _course_ Trini knew who she was. What she didn’t know was why Kimberly Hart was sitting in Mickey’s Diner at 5:36 on a Tuesday.

Trini deliberately went to the diner when she was least likely to run into anybody from school. From four to six, the athletes were at practices, the nerds were at club meetings, and Trini was blissfully alone. Mickey’s was her oasis in this much-too-small town for those precious two hours a day.

Kimberly and Trini had never spoken. They shared one class, but Trini sat in the back and Kimberly never took her attention off the blackboard. They hardly existed in each other’s lives, but the mere presence of of another person from Angel Grove High was enough to make Trini question the sanctity of her paradise. She decided to break out her trademark silent intimidation to get the girl to leave, but halfway to Kimberly’s seat she noticed that something was wrong.

The head cheerleader was alone. Since when did she travel without a posse? Why did she have a duffel bag with her? And why was she huddled in the corner of a booth staring out the window at the dirt road out of town?

Trini could turn back. Or leave through the front door. She didn’t have to get involved--until Kimberly saw her.

The uncharacteristically somber cheerleader turned away from the window and glanced up at the uninvited guest next to her table.

She was crying. She tried to shield her eyes with one hand, but it was too late. Trini could see the tear streaks on the exposed cheek, and in a split second she made the bold choice to sit down across from Kimberly.

“Never seen you here before,” Trini said, trying for somewhere between standoffish and casual.

Kimberly didn’t look at her. “Not a fan of breakfast food.”

“Good talk.” Trini slid back out of the booth and got up. No way was she about to befriend somebody who didn’t like breakfast.

“Wait,” Kimberly said, her voice shaky. “I know this is probably a stupid question since we don’t really know each other, but would you...” The end of her sentence disappeared into the corner of the booth.

“Would I..?” Trini repeated, her patience for social interaction running out quickly.

“Never mind.” Kimberly turned further away from Trini, making herself even smaller.

When Kimberly craned her neck to look out the window, a small purple mark peeked out over her the collar. Trini recognized a hickey when she saw one--and this was definitely not a hickey. Whatever was going on with the former cheerleader--skipping practice, lonely loitering, mysterious bruises--had escaped Trini’s limited social circles. Slowly, Trini sat back down, drawing a teary smile from Kimberly.

“God, I hate this town,” Kimberly said, wiping at her eyes.

Trini shrugged.

“Don’t tell me you actually like it here, hanging out in a diner after school every day? You don’t hate it?”

“Guess I haven’t been here long enough to.” Trini considered reaching out and offering a hand to Kimberly, but held herself back. “How’d you know I come here every day?”

“You take a left out of school after bio. There’s not much else in this direction.”

Kimberly knew that they had a class together. Not only that, but she’d apparently been watching Trini for some time. In an effort to avoid blushing at the thought of Kimberly paying her any attention, Trini picked up one of the paper menus on the table despite the fact that she always ordered the same basic eggs, bacon, and toast at Mickey’s. Kimberly followed suit and cleared her throat.

“So, what’s good here?” She asked.

Trini glanced up from her own menu, and something red caught her eye. Two knuckles on Kimberly’s right hand were split open and caked with dried blood. “Your hand...” Trini trailed off, afraid to intrude by asking any straightforward question.

Kimberly turned her hand over and examined the damage as if she were noticing it for the first time.

Trini couldn’t think of anything to say, so she decided to answer the question that had been posed a second before. “Pancakes.”

“Guess I should see a doctor or something,” Kimberly said, distant. She lost interest in her menu and resumed staring out the window.

Trini placed her hand in the middle of the table, offering but not forcing any contact between them. “Do you wanna talk..?”

Fury and pain flashed across Kimberly’s eyes, but then a little smile perked up the corners of her lips. “I hit him back this time.”

Trini nodded. She should have put the pieces together as soon as she saw the bluish-purple marks. Kimberly had gotten herself out of an unimaginably awful situation. Under other circumstances, Trini would have been impressed by the sheer strength required stand up to an abuser with a knuckle-splitting punch, but in the moment she felt only a profound desire to wrap Kimberly in a blanket and make her whatever her favorite food was.

“I should have guessed I’d get kicked off the squad for defending myself,” Kimberly said, barely making it through the sentence before tears tumbled onto her cheeks again. She clenched her jaw and tried to force them back.

Trini switched her brain into overdrive in an effort to invent some way of helping. Pancakes, even ones from Mickey’s, could only do so much good in this situation.

Kimberly whispered, talking to herself more than to her unexpected company, “How am I supposed to go back there?”

And then it clicked. Trini could help Kimberly escape. “I’ve got my dad’s car outside. You like camping?”

Kimberly hesitated for no more than a second, then snatched her duffel bag off the ground and made it to the door in no more than three steps. She raised her eyebrows expectantly and cocked her head toward the parking lot as if to ask, _When do we leave?_

**Author's Note:**

> hey, i don't usually write angst, but i figured i'd give it a shot. let me know what you think!


End file.
